Oocyte cryopreservation, commonly known as egg freezing, is a medical process that allows individuals to preserve their fertility by retrieving and storing eggs for future use. This involves a cycle of hormone stimulation, monitoring, and a minor surgical retrieval procedure, followed by cryopreservation. The total financial commitment in Canada is not a single, fixed price but a cumulative cost composed of several distinct components. The final tally is highly dependent on the clinic, the individual’s medical needs, and location. Understanding the full cost requires breaking down the fees for the procedure itself, the necessary pharmaceuticals, the long-term storage, and the eventual costs of utilizing the eggs.
Cost of the Initial Retrieval Procedure
The primary financial component of egg freezing is the fee charged by the fertility clinic for the core procedure, which generally ranges from $8,600 to $10,300 per cycle. This price typically covers the comprehensive package of services performed at the clinic and laboratory. Included in this cost are the multiple monitoring appointments, such as transvaginal ultrasounds and blood tests, which track the development of the egg follicles. The base fee also covers the surgical egg retrieval procedure itself, including the use of the operating room, the embryology lab’s work in isolating and freezing the mature eggs, and the fees for the anesthetist.
This procedure cost can vary across the country, with clinics in major metropolitan areas often reflecting the higher end of the spectrum. Many patients undergo more than one cycle to secure an optimal number of eggs, which means the base procedure cost can double or triple, bringing the total procedural costs alone well over $20,000. It is important to confirm with the clinic precisely what is bundled into this figure, as it usually excludes the substantial cost of the required fertility drugs and any subsequent annual storage fees.
Understanding Medication Expenses
Separate from the clinic’s procedural fee, the cost of the necessary fertility medications represents a mandatory and highly variable expense for every cycle. These drugs are essential for ovarian stimulation, encouraging the ovaries to produce multiple mature eggs in a single cycle. The pharmaceutical costs typically fall within a range of $3,000 to $8,000 per cycle.
The medication protocol involves daily self-administered injections of gonadotropins, which are follicle-stimulating hormones, along with antagonists to prevent premature ovulation. A final trigger shot is used to mature the eggs just before the retrieval. The specific drugs, required dosage, and overall duration of treatment are tailored to each individual patient, heavily influenced by factors like age, ovarian reserve, and how the body responds. This individual variability is the reason for the wide cost range, as a patient requiring higher doses or a longer stimulation period will incur greater expense.
Ongoing Storage and Future Use Fees
Once the eggs are successfully retrieved and cryopreserved, they are placed in long-term storage, which involves an ongoing annual fee. This fee covers the specialized maintenance of the eggs in liquid nitrogen tanks and typically ranges from $300 to $1,000 per year. Clinics often provide a modest discount for pre-paying for a multi-year storage commitment, but this cost must be factored in for the entire duration the eggs remain frozen, which can span a decade or more.
A separate financial consideration is the cost associated with using the eggs in the future. When the individual is ready to conceive, the frozen eggs must be thawed, fertilized with sperm using a procedure like Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), and then transferred to the uterus as embryos. This process mirrors a frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle, which can cost an additional $5,000 to $7,000.
Provincial Support and Tax Credits
While elective egg freezing is generally not covered by provincial health insurance plans, several mechanisms exist in Canada to help mitigate the financial burden. The most significant measure is the federal Medical Expense Tax Credit (METC), which allows individuals to claim a portion of their fertility expenses on their income tax return. These eligible expenses typically include the procedure, medication, and storage fees, provided they meet the Canada Revenue Agency’s criteria.
Provincial Tax Credits
Some provinces offer additional support, most notably the new Ontario Fertility Treatment Tax Credit, which became effective in 2025. This refundable credit allows Ontario residents to claim 25% of eligible fertility expenses, up to a maximum of $5,000 per year. Similarly, Manitoba and Nova Scotia offer a refundable tax credit equal to 40% of fertility treatment costs, with a maximum annual credit of $8,000. These provincial and federal tax credits provide a meaningful reduction in the final out-of-pocket expenses, although the initial fees must still be paid upfront.